~ All of my early, horrible writing, and what works for me!

Monday Murder: Draft One

The Skype call came in and everyone answered, a little cautious. Who can blame them? I had to be cautious about what I said.

“Hey, you okay over there? You look a little down.”

“Oh, I’m just a little under the weather,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Well, if you’re sure. Now, we should get to business.

“Have you ever thought about the possibility that Jenny and Margaret were in it together?”

“I had nothing to do with it! I keep telling you people this!”

“Well, I actually meant the principal, but if the shoe fits…”

“It most certainly does not!”

“You know, I actually had that thought cross my mind as well last night. I wonder if they could have been. Margaret’s fingerprints were on there as well as Jenny’s. I can understand that, but it is definitely a possibility that they were in it together. Margaret says the gloves were stolen, but I’m not so sure they were.”

“Let’s not forget, though, Margaret really doesn’t seem like the type of person that could pull something like this off. I couldn’t imagine her doing anything like this.”

“Does Jenny seem like the type of person to send out that phone call?”

“Good point.”

“There’s evidence pointing against a lot of us, too, though.”

“What? Like what?”

“Well, Margaret gets really defensive every single time we mention the other Margaret’s name…”

“I only get defensive because I didn’t do it! I’m telling you that I really didn’t!”

“Yeah, well, you also don’t see anybody else get so defensive.”

“It was probably you! You’re the one that always points to me!”

“Me? I have no reason to mess this job up! I just started!”

“There’s a lot of us who just had their first year here. That’s not going to help us eliminate anything.”

“Yeah, well, I still say one of the guys did it.”

“I couldn’t do anything like that! I don’t have the heart!”

“Neither do I! I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt!”

“All of us claim to not be able to live with the guilt, but I can’t help but wonder if one of us is lying?”

“What are you suggesting, Jennifer?”

“Well, what if one of us stayed in bed all day just because we couldn’t stand the guilt?”

“Are you suggesting that that’s what you’ve been doing?

“Of course not. I just know that’s what I do when I get depressed. I couldn’t do a thing like that do any of the kids. I can’t afford to screw this career up.”

“Well neither can I and you always accuse me.”

“Well, you do have that suspicious air about you, Sheila. You hate this job. Everyone knows it.”

“Well the guys hate their job too!”

“I didn’t do it! I’m telling you!”

“I don’t know why you think one of us did it, I couldn’t stand the thought of killing one of those kids!”

“You both said Toby deserved to be strangled.”

“I didn’t mean literally! I couldn’t actually do it!”

We were all getting defensive again. While I was still feeling a little guilty I had to admit I was pleased with the way this conversation was going. It was exactly as I had planned. I loved this feeling. I was in control. Someone always brought up accusing other people, and everyone else added on to it. I would be in control of this whole thing.